yadkin

you all have valid opinions on this....just to throw this out there....the GOP Controlled Congress and Senate will do what ever the major mega Health Care Industry want them to vote on....and we become a number as was stated a customer not a patient......and you think the cost is high now...the Health Care Industry will have total control over D C and State GOP Politicians and will be able to get what they want as for coverage reduction and rise in premiums....and have Insurance raise the cost of Mal Practice Suit Coverage so independent medical office will be at the Hospitals beckon call....such as we have now with WRMC under WFBaptist Hospital.... having used WRMC recently my care giver had me in and out of there in less than 24 hours so to keep my cost down and treat me in his office rather than the Hospital.....as I said you all have valid opinion but keep a close eye on GOP in NC and DC on this matter....Burr and Foxx need to hear from you.....as well as Tillis....

You can complain about Hugh Chatham all you want but there are other reasons the medical practices are being bought out by the hospitals. Major reduction in reimbursement and very high malpractice insurance and high overhead cost to run a practice has caused many practices to want to be bought. The reason and not blame is in both parties corner. Look at Baptist and Novant, they have been buying practices and hospitals right and left. You have a complaint take it to your elected officials and tell them to pay more to the docs, clinics & hospitals and oh yes, expect to pay more yourself in taxes and office visits.

I agree with you quart jar its not good that they own the elkin practices if people will pay attention to their bills there is even a extra charge added by the hospital for use of the building the doc is in cost more care is not as good as it once was and hcmh owns and runs it all I remember the days of doctor claude mc niel he was a good doctor a friend and neighbor to all his patients and he cared about his patients today tho its just big business bottom line hospital wants to control everything and we get doctors who they boss and care goes down hill all the way elkin doent have much of a hospital anyway ok for a first aide station but that's it. wish I could find a good doctor that owns his own practice if anyone knows one that is taking patients please message me.

I've said it many times and I'll say it many times more....we are no longer "patients", we are "customers".

Hospitals are more and more like Walmart.

Just saw in the Tribune an article about the new doc in a box clinic in Jonesville. There is a statement in the middle of the article near the picture that tells us much about Hugh Chatham's motive. It's probably not that they care so much about the health of the local population, but that they want to drive local privately owned medical practices out of the area. The statement reads that patients will receive "quick treatment while avoiding the wait of a private practice ..."
You see, Hugh Chatham owns most of the practices that once made Elkin attractive as a place for good medical care. Now they seem to want to drive the rest out of business.
Think about it. The goal of a doctor's visit is not always to get "quick care". Medicine is not a quick lube or a 30 minute pizza delivery.
The last time I visited my doctor in a privately owned medical practice I waited less than 10 minutes before being called back to an exam room. Friendly people with experience and credentials took care of the preliminary information gathering and vital statistics. My doctor came in carrying a computer that had results of visits going back several years. My doctor sat beside me and explained what he needed to check, how the tests would help him diagnose my issue and how today's statistics compared to last year and to five years ago. I have a relationship with my doctor that goes back almost twenty years. That relationship helps him to stay on top of any medical issues I may have.
It was distressing to me when the hospital shifted to a hospitalist model of care for inpatients. There was a time when you would see doctors from medical practices come by to check on their patients. Not so much now. There is no guarantee of seeing any caregiver that has treated you before. I understand that this is what larger hospitals are doing. I simply don't want to extend that model to my primary care physician. If I could do that, I'd go a step further and move all my medical care to Statesville or Winston-Salem. That way if something more needed to be done, it'd be scheduled right away. And the billing would be right. (But that's an issue for another post.)
The local hospital wants a monopoly on medical care. Monopolies tend to result in poorer outcomes. Monopolies also tend to drive costs up. Hugh Chatham is already the most expensive care in the region. I'll keep my local doctor, thank you.